"Help! Help me! Help me, please!!! Helpppp Meeeee!"

Tiffany and I head for the screams. Unsure of who...Or what...We may come upon. In truth, I am sorry that Deputy Wheeler did not see fit to accompany us. We could have really used his eagle eye...And his gun.

Another round of screams. Closer now. Finally, we are in sight of the screamer. A woman stumbles hurriedly in our direction. She practically plows into me; in her excitement to see another living human. At first, I do not recognize her. Her face being buried deep into the front of my jacket. As she pulls away to thank me, the light suddenly goes off in my brain.

"Carla?! Oh wow...Carla?! What happened to you?! Who did that to your face?!"

Carla turns her face away from me in embarrassment. She is attempting to hide the angry slice across her right cheek. Blood has both dried around it, and still seeps from it. The cut almost looks surgical. Not like the cut you'd get from a car accident or a street fight. I repeat my question.

"Carla, who did that to your face?!"

Tiffany stares at Carla in stunned silence. It is obvious she is afraid she won't like the answer that is coming.

"It...It's the same at the hospital....As it is in town. Uh....," Carla looks from me to Tiffany with fear in her eyes. "The doctor I was supposed to see today....About my nose....She attacked me. One minute, we were sitting there....Talking about pain levels and whether it hurts to wiggle my nose back and forth...And then, she gets a funny look in her eyes. She gets up and....And she doesn't even say a damn word. She starts rummaging through a cabinet. Starts pulling out drugs and other things. I asked her what she was looking for. I thought she was looking for something specific. I thought I could help. But then, she runs at me. She's screaming like she's crazy or something. She comes at me, and I jump out of my chair. She comes at me with a pair of surgical scissors. James, I never even saw her grab 'em! I holler and run for the door. She got one good swipe in before I hit her with a chair. I ran out into the hall....And...And, it wasn't much better out there! A nurse was convulsing on the floor. It looked like she had taken a crapload of pills. The bottles were scattered everywhere. The duty nurse was sitting behind the desk trying to strangle herself with the cord from a landline phone. One of the male orderlies was slamming a door on his neck....Over and over. He was already bleeding....But he wouldn't stop doing it! A doctor was standing at the other end of the hall carving up his own chest with a scalpel! And another doctor was shoving yet another orderlies head in a patient's ice bucket. The ice was all melting and bloody! Oh God, James! What the hell is this!? What the hell is going on?!"

The narrative has been stolen; if detected on Amazon, report the infringement.

"Hell if I know, Carla! I'm just as in the dark as you are. But, we'll ponder this later! Right now, we need to get inside. Let's head to Shrouder's Feed Store. At least, he'll have some horse blankets in storage. We'll be able to stay warm and snug. Maybe even find some antibiotics for that cut of yours!? Come on!"

†**********************************†

Twenty minutes later, we are holed up in Shrouder's Feed Store. Mr. Shrouder is nowhere to be found. So we take liberties with the goodies in his personal fridge. Cheap soda pop and old Twinkies. Yum. We also split an old chicken salad sandwich we find in there. Better than nothin'. We can search for better pickings in the morning.

As I guessed, we find plenty of blankets in storage; and some antibiotics for the cut on Carla's cheek.

Making our way to the back, we settle down in Shrouder's office. The only window is a tiny affair close to the ceiling, and not big enough for anyone to sneak through.

Tiffany, an extremely petite woman, curls up underneath Shrouder's enormous desk. My guess is, being under there makes her feel kind of safe. If there was such a thing anymore.

Carla curls up, in a couple of thick blankets, on the cot we dug out of Shrouder's tiny closet. I sleep with my back against the locked door. My pistol lying on my lap atop the blanket.

I'm sure Carla has even more horror stories to tell us about her trek through town. But I'd made her promise to hold off on 'em. So as not to frighten Tiffany any more than she already was, or further erode any resolve we all had left. If today was any indication, we were going to need every ounce of courage we could muster.

It could wait til morning. I'm sure the monsters will still be there.